


A Knight's Honor

by madkat65



Category: Sword Art Online
Genre: ALfheim Online, Alicization, Alicization AU, Alicization Volume 14 spoilers, Background Kirisuna, But if you want it to be romantic, But y'all are smart figure it out, Gen, I am not that someone, I mean they aren't really spoilers, Mother's Rosario AU, Rest of the main cast are side characters, Someone let these boys be happy for once, Sylph!Alice, The Eugeo/Kirito is platonic, Undine!Eugeo, be my guest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2018-12-17 23:03:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11861475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madkat65/pseuds/madkat65
Summary: After the Sword Art Online incident had finally cleared, Kirito thought nothing else could change his life anymore than it already had been changed.Then again, he never expected to meet another life changing person.





	1. Chapter 1

_ALO: New Aincrad Floor 22_

_Morning of January 6th, 2026_

 

"Kirito, have you heard of this new swordsman yet?"

Asuna and Kirito sat in their home on Floor 22, waiting for the others to log in for the day.

"Which one this time?"

"A fighter called 'Synthesis'. He's a new player who apparently first logged on only a few weeks ago, but has already battled and defeated some of the top players in ALO. The story goes that he put up a challenge request online, asking for people to battle him near that big tree on Floor 24. People called him out for being a new player, and went to go try to show him his place, but everyone who challenged him got defeated. There haven't been any players who have gotten his health lower than 70% so far, and he started taking challenges about a week from yesterday."

"What's his fighting style like?" Kirito looked up, starting to get interested in Asuna's story.

"Of course you'd ask that!" She laughed a little at the question before answering. "Well, he's an Undine, if that gives you any of an idea. In defensive terms, he's got great armor stats and a lot of hit points, as well as extremely quick and unpredictable evasion techniques that make him hard to hit. In offensive terms, he fights using a one handed sword similar to yours, except it's a pale blue that almost looks like ice. Offensively, he uses mostly simple sword skills, all ones of speed, and knows a bit of offensive magic as well, specifically from the ice element. Some of the other SAO Survivors are saying that his speed is even up to par with yours!"

"He's really that fast? Do you know if he's still accepting challengers?" Kirito asked, a glint in his eye telling Asuna he was interested.

"Hmm... I'm not sure about it. You could ask Klein and Leafa. They both went and challenged him yesterday."

"What?!" Kirito nearly jumped from his seat. "You mean they both went and fought this super skilled swordsman who was readily accepting challenges and they didn't tell me?"

Asuna started laughing. "Leafa said that you were getting busy with preparing your mechatronics for next semester, and she didn't want to interrupt you."

"My own sister..." Kirito sighed. "What time does he normally accept duels?"

"It's normally around 3 in the afternoon, in front of the tree on Floor 24. The Knights of the Blood Oath used to hold meetings around there."

The place Asuna was speaking of rang a bell in his mind from the old Aincrad. "Okay. I'm going to go see if this 'Synthesis' guy is still taking duels, and if he is, then I'll go get ready for one. Can you see if the others will come meet up around the same time? Especially for Klein and Leafa, I've got something I want to tell them."

"I think this is why they didn't tell you."

"What do you mean?"

Asuna laughed again. "They knew how you'd react. Honestly, I should have been expecting this from you. Of all the people I know, you'd be the most excited to go and fight some elite swordsman."

Kirito seemed offended at first, but soon joined Asuna with a small laugh. "That sounds like them. So, I'll see you at the duel?"

"What makes you think that I won't show up for what's got to be one of the best battles in ALO history, especially considering you're fighting in it? Of course I'll be there." Asuna gave him a smile. "You just go get ready. I'll call the others and tell them that you're off to go fight Synthesis."

"Thanks, Asuna."


	2. Chapter 2

_ALO: New Aincrad Floor 24_

_Afternoon of January 6th, 2026_

 

The buzz around the player Synthesis was rising every day, his name skyrocketing in popularity after word of how he defeated the well known Sylph swordswoman with ease. Every day, more and more challengers would come to face him, and every day, more and more challengers were defeated.

As players from all races gathered on Floor 24 once more, Kirito stood among the crowds, waiting to catch sight of Synthesis. Looking around the crowds, he picked out Asuna, who had brought along with her Yui. He couldn't help but wonder where the others were.

Before long, an Undine came flying down to the middle of the clearing. “Alright, who would like a battle today?” He called out, making a smooth landing. It was almost unnatural for someone who had only been playing for a week.

There was a slight delay before Kirito stepped forward. “Sure, why not.” As soon as he spoke, there was a ripple of noise through the crowds.

“Isn’t that the top Spriggan player?”

“Oh boy, I sure am glad I picked today to watch the duels!”

“This is gonna be one great fight!”

The Undine looked at Kirito before giving him a smile. “What kind of a fight do you want? We can do one in the air, one on the ground, or a mixed one?”

“Let’s do a ground battle.”

“Okay. You can jump, but you can’t use your wings to assist you. You can use any combination of weapons you want, including magic, but no potions.” He swiped a hand in front of him, pulling up the menu. Moments later, Kirito got the duel request.

_Duel request pending from Eugeo._

Kirito quickly accepted, pulling out a long, black sword. Eugeo in turn pulled out a pale blue sword. Both swordsmen took their battle stance as the timer started ticking above their heads.

_Ten._

_Nine._

“So your name is Kirito?”

_Eight._

_Seven._

“Yeah. And you’re Eugeo?”

_Six._

_Five._

“Mmm-hmm.”

_Four._

_Three._

“May the better swordsman win.”

_Two._

_One._

“Likewise.”

_Zero._

_Start!_

Kirito took the first move, darting to Eugeo’s left. He moved around the back, making a hit forward. Eugeo stepped forward, pivoting around to deflect the hit. The impact pushed Kirito back, knocking him to the ground.

He pulled himself up, glancing around to see where Eugeo had gone.

“Behind you!” He turned around just in time to see Eugeo activate a sword skill, Vertical Arc. The hit knocked out a fair amount of his health.

_Come on, focus. Being away from the game for a couple of days doesn’t excuse this._

Kirito stood up again, looking at Eugeo. “You’re pretty clever.”

“Thanks!” Eugeo beamed, giving him another smile. “That first move of yours was pretty smart. Mind if I try it?”

Without giving Kirito time to respond, Eugeo ran around Kirito, preparing another hit. Right before it landed, Kirito stepped to the side, leaving Eugeo to fall over in the dirt. Kirito used the moment to attack, four swift strikes in the shape of a square. The skill rendered him immobile for a moment, just enough time to let Eugeo get up before the effect was over, allowing the two to strike at each other again.

Their blades crossed in the form of an 'x', both pushing against the other. Kirito’s strength rose over Eugeo's in the end, allowing him to slide his sword across Eugeo’s, sending it into the air. The sword fell on the ground in front of the tree with a clang.

Eugeo threw his hands up, looking Kirito in the eye as he pointed his blade. “You’re gonna have to teach me how to do that one day, you know?”

“Sure. Consider it a favor for a good fight.” Kirito gestured over to the sword on the ground. “But first, let’s finish this duel.”

“Yeah, right.” Eugeo laughed a little before backing up, reaching on the ground for his sword without taking his eyes off of Kirito. They were a dark green, almost rare for an Undine to have.

Come to think of it, his appearance as a whole was very strange for an Undine. He had an above-average muscular build in comparison to the average Undine, with messy light brown, almost blonde, hair instead of the common shades of blue and white. Appearance could be changed in ALO, but it often took a lot of currency, something a brand new player would never have in that kind of an abundance.

Eugeo picked up his sword, pointing it and smiling at Kirito. “What’re you thinking about?”

“Nothing.” Kirito quickly shook his head, focusing back on the battle. “Let’s just get back to it.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice.” Eugeo jumped ahead, immediately letting off a flurry of attacks. Kirito used his own sword to deflect the hits, only managing to neutralize a few of the hits. He looked up to see his health had started dipping into the yellow zone. The bar above Eugeo’s head showed him still sitting in the green, somewhere around 65% of his maximum health.

_Well, there goes the whole “never seeing his health go past 70%” myth. Let’s see if I can get him down any lower._

The two traded another set of blows, this time Kirito on the offensive. Eugeo grabbed the hilt of his sword with both hands, revolving the sword around to push attacks back and stagger Kirito, landing a few hits as well. Most of Kirito's attacks connected, and he finished the combo with the sword skill Sharp Nail.

He looked up at his own health again, and back to Eugeo’s. Both of them were around 40% of their maximum health.

“I’ll admit, this was a pretty fun duel. This next move, I don’t think I’ve ever had to use it in a duel before. I’m honored to have fought you, Kirito.”

Eugeo looked at Kirito before turning the point of his sword to the ground. He stuck the sword into the ground, kneeling and chanting a spell.

_“Utgivelse erindring!"_

The sword in the ground began to glow a pale blue, before ice crystals began forming up from the ground. The crystals formed a circle around Kirito before grabbing on to him, growing in size and rendering him immobile. The ice grew all the way to his shoulders, very slowly chipping away at his health.

_What kind of a spell is that?_

Eugeo pulled the sword out of the ground, letting out a few heavy breaths. He pointed the sword at Kirito, letting light gather around it to perform a sword skill.

_Come on! Move!_

Kirito pushed his sword arm, attempting to break through the ice as Eugeo drew closer. Time almost slowed, a feeling all to similar to the first battle Kirito shared against Heathcliff, the commander to the Knights of the Blood Oath.

Then the ice cracked.

Kirito’s arm swung in front of him, holding the sword out to intercept the hit. A flurry of sparks rang out from the two swords, Eugeo stumbling back and vibrations running through Kirito’s whole body.

The remaining ice around Kirito cracked and fell to the ground, disappearing as if it had never been there. Both swordsmen stood staring at each other, letting out heavy breaths.

“Draw?” Eugeo asked, receiving a nod from Kirito.

“Draw.”

Both sheathed their swords, returning them to their inventories. Eugeo looked at Kirito again, opening up his wings. “If you don’t mind, I have something I’d like to show you. Sort of a reward for giving me such a great fight.”

Kirito paused a moment, then nodded again while opening his wings. “Let’s go.”

Eugeo leapt into the air, waving a hand to Kirito. “Come on up!”

“I’m coming, just hold up a second.” Kirito flew over to where Asuna was standing.

“Papa, that was a really cool fight! You were all like, ‘POW!’ and, ‘WOOOSH!’ and-” Yui started swinging her hands around, imitating the fighting style Kirito had used.

“I’ll have to teach you to fight like that someday, now shouldn’t I?” Kirito asked, bringing a smile to Yui’s face and a look of concern to Asuna’s.

“Are you sure about that, Kirito? Yui probably weighs as much as your sword alone, and that when she’s not in a pixie form!”

“Then we’ll use a different one. I’m sure I can find a sword light enough for her to use. Maybe a rapier like yours?”

“That’d be great, Papa! Just you watch, I’m gonna be able to fight the great Black Swordsman and the Berserk Healer one day!” Both Kirito and Asuna laughed.

“That’ll be a fun fight. But first, Eugeo wanted me to come see something.”

“Eugeo, is that his player name?”

“Yeah. Anyways, I’ll be back!” Kirito leapt into the air, flying up towards where Eugeo was waiting for him.

“Kirito! Oh-” Asuna stopped, simply shaking her head. “You have fun, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The spell used is Norweigan for the words "Release" and "Recollection", how Eugeo is able to use the system command in the original Alicization.


	3. Chapter 3

“It’s about time you got up here.Now, how about a race?” Eugeo asked, smirking at Kirito. 

“Okay, where are we heading?” 

“To the teleport gate, we’re going to Floor 27. Ready, go!” Eugeo picked up speed, flying across the sky. 

“Hey, wait up!” Kirito raced to catch up to Eugeo, soon reaching his side. 

“You’re pretty fast.” 

“Speak for yourself, that flying’s amazing for being such a new player. Or have you been a solo player this whole time and just now decided to start interacting with other players?” Kirito looked over at Eugeo, who looked up to the sky for a moment before answering. 

“I’ve got lots of experience working in virtual worlds. It was a bit hard to pick up flying, but not nearly as hard as the first game I played with sword fighting in it.” 

The rest of the flight was a friendly competition between the two, Kirito ending up winning in the end. Upon reaching the gate, they went up to Floor 27, walking through the town. 

“So, what exactly do you want to show me?” Kirito asked. Eugeo seemed a little confused. 

“Did I say I was gonna show you some _ thing _ ? Oops, I meant to say I was gonna introduce you to some _ one _ . She’s a really good friend of mine and we needed the help of one other player who’s familiar with ALO. We’re almost to the inn that we’ve been staying in recently. Come on!” 

Eugeo lead Kirito through the twists and turns of the main town, finally leading him to an inn. Sitting at one of the tables outside was a blonde girl with golden and blue armor, waving to Eugeo. 

“Nice to see you’ve finally come back!” She declared. “Is this the player you’ve decided on?” 

“Yep! I supposed I should introduce you. Kirito, this is Alice. She’s a Sylph and my best friend. We’ve been playing together in all sorts of MMO’s, both VR and non VR, for awhile now, but both of us just recently converted to ALO. Alice, this is Kirito, ah… What’s your race?” 

“I’m a Spriggan. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Alice looked at Kirito, almost inspecting him. “A Spriggan is the player that you want to join us?” 

“Yeah! He’s definitely the best person I’ve fought in this game so far. I even had to use the special Sword Spell.” 

“Oh, that one? Hey Kirito, you wanna hear a story regarding the first time Eugeo tried out that spell?” Alice smirked, almost glaring at Eugeo. 

“Alice, not that story!” Eugeo groaned, his face turning a deep red before she had even begun. 

“I’ll take that as a yes. So the first time Eugeo found out that his sword had a special skill to go with it, he got really excited and immediately tried using it. But since the pronunciation for it is so long, he messed up some of the words, and it ended up sealing him in ice for almost an hour.” 

“ Aliceeee! _ ”  _ Eugeo yelled over the laughs of Kirito and Alice. “You promised me you’d let that go!” 

“Not my fault that was such a silly thing you did. Honestly, how you got this good shocks me.” Alice’s tone was basically a scold over snickering, before she turned over to Kirito. “So you’re a Spriggan? Of all the races, why’d you pick that?” 

“Well, the reason is almost as stupid as the story you just told-” Eugeo let out another moan to this comment. “-but I was always known in the MMO I played before ALO as the Black Swordsman, so I just chose the darkest looking race when joining. If I would have known that there weren’t many combat buffs, I would have probably been an Imp or something instead.” This time, it was Alice and Eugeo’s turn to laugh. 

“Alright, so everyone’s got dirt on each other thanks to Alice now.” She gave Eugeo a smirk when he said this. “Anyways, I think I should finally explain what we’re doing to Kirito.” 

“Okay by me.” Alice shrugged. “He seems competent enough to be willing to help.” 

“Sweet! So Alice and I formed a two-man guild when we first joined ALO, called the Integrity Knights. We’re both pretty active players right now, but due to some other things going on in our lives, we might not be able to play at all after the start of spring. So we want to try and leave our mark on the gaming community by solo-clearing one of the bosses of New Aincrad, that way our names will be put on record in the Town of Beginnings. I’ve heard that the next update isn’t going to come out for awhile, probably not until after we both stop playing, so we both started training as fast as we could to get strong enough to fight one of the bosses. We did try to beat the boss on Floor 26, and it went pretty okay, but we both ran out of potions and ended up dying. By the time we got restocked and came back to the dungeon, another group of parties had already started an assault on the boss, and they finished it off.” 

“Eugeo said that we should get one more player, and then maybe we could beat the next boss. So he put up an announcement, looking to duel other players. He said that if any player put up a good enough fight, he’d introduce them to this idea and ask for them to join the guild so we can clear the boss with three players.” 

“So what do you think?” Eugeo went through his inventory, sending an invite to Kirito.

Before Kirito there popped up a menu. 

_ You have been invited to the guild <Integrity Knights>. Accept?  _

Kirito was silent, almost shocked at the offer. Back in the Old Aincrad, no one would even dare think of trying to defeat a boss with only three players, it was a death sentence. It was such a reckless idea that the two had in mind. 

But it wasn't Old Aincrad, this was the New Aincrad.

It was every player’s dream to get their name on the board on Floor 1, but only party leaders would get their names put on. If a group of 7 or less players would clear a boss, then all their names could get marked on. If they had until the start of spring, there would probably be enough time to train and perhaps even beat one of the four remaining bosses in the current version of New Aincrad. 

Alice and Eugeo both looked at Kirito, waiting for his response. After a hesitation, Kirito finally hit “accept”. In his stats, the label behind his name changed. 

_ Kirito, Spriggan. Member of <Integrity Knights> _

Eugeo practically tackled Kirito as soon as he got the notification of acceptance. “ThankyouThankyouTHANK YOU! I’ll make sure you won’t regret this!” 

Kirito laughed. “It sounds like a fun idea. I’ll look over some information about the boss tonight, and we can get together again tomorrow to go and attempt it. Does sometime around 2 sound good?” 

Both Alice and Eugeo nodded. “We’ll be around the entrance to the dungeon then. If you’d like, we can pay for all the potions that we’ll end up needing.” Alice offered. 

“Hey, since when did I agree to that?” 

“It’s fine. I’ve got quite a few potions left over from a raid I did with my other friends recently. Our healer was pretty on point when it came to keeping everyone alive in that dungeon. Speaking of, are you sure we want to go in without a mage to support us? I have a friend who I’m sure would be willing to support us if you want. She’s got a good range of spells both offensive and healing, and she’s also pretty skilled with a rapier if we need the offensive support as well.” 

Eugeo immediately shook his head. “Alice and I have a couple of spells besides the one I showed you earlier today if we need it. Besides, three is already more than enough. I know you haven’t seen Alice in combat yet, but trust me, she is the exact definition of a berserker.” 

“Excuse me?” Alice stood up, her height almost towering over both the boys. They both looked up at her, almost terrified before she started laughing. 

“Sorry, Alice. You were the only one who hasn’t gotten insulted tonight.” 

“So you think insulting me is necessary?” 

“No! I was just… sharing the love. That’s all.” Eugeo let out a sheepish laugh, receiving a glare from Alice. 

“Whatever you say… Anyways, we’ll be glad to meet you for the raid tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Kirito was interrupted by a ping, looking to to see a notification. 

_ Incoming friend request: Eugeo, Undine. Accept?  _

He looked at Eugeo, accepting the request with a smile. “For being so new, you guys sure do have the right idea of how to play. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s dungeon.” 

“You have no idea how excited I am for this. Do you have to log out soon?” Eugeo asked. Kirito looked up at a clock, mentally cursing when he saw the time. 

“I was supposed to meet my sister for dinner ten minutes ago. I’ll see you tomorrow then?” 

“Alright. But before you go…” Eugeo gave Kirito one last smile, putting up finger guns. “Stay cool!” 

“Stay cool?” 

“It’s his thing. Don’t question it.” Alice added. “He’s done it ever since I first met him.” 

“Okay then. Stay cool.” Kirito returned the gesture awkwardly, getting another laugh from Eugeo. 

“See you tomorrow.” Eugeo told him as he logged out. 

“It’s a go.” 


	4. Chapter 4

_ Real world: Kirigaya Household _

_ Evening of January 6th, 2026 _

 

Kazuto almost leapt out from his room as soon as the log out was complete, searching to see if Suguha was still home. To his luck, she was sitting at the table, still eating. 

“Hey.”

Suguha almost jumped when he spoke, turning to see her brother. “Oh. You finally came. I was beginning to think you took another duel with that Synthesis guy.” 

“Nah, one’s enough for today.” He sat down at the table, finding a plate of still-warm food. 

“You, turning down a battle? I think I’ve got the wrong person here.”

“Well, Asuna said that you fought him once. How willing would you be to fight on that intense of a level more than once in a day?” 

“Oh, I suppose. Anyway, what were you up to that made you so late? You guys didn’t go on a quest without me, did you?”    


“No! I don’t think most of the others were logged in today besides the duel, come to think of it.” 

“So what were you doing?” 

“Organizing a boss raid.” 

“Really? Don’t you just follow along and let Asuna plan those out though?” 

“Ahh, no reason dancing around the point, then. Synthesis? He’s a player who wanted to leave a mark by getting his name on the wall at the Town of Beginnings with just him and a few others. He was dueling others to look for someone to join his party.” 

“You’re actually making other friends?” Suguha almost looked shocked at her brother’s remark. 

“Hey, it’s not like I don’t know anyone else! I made friends with Shino without you guys around!” 

“If by friends, you mean she wants to kill you at almost every moment possible, then totally.” Suguha laughed, earning a glare from Kazuto. 

“Anyway, tomorrow, I’m going to go see if we can beat this boss on the first try. The party is just me, him, and his friend right now.” 

“Sounds interesting. Are you gonna tell any of the others?” 

“I was gonna ask Asuna and Klein if they remembered anything from the boss, but it might be different than what it had been in the old Aincrad. Then again, it’d be pretty fun to go in blind.” 

“Of course that’s what you’d think.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Exactly what you think it means.” Suguha gave her brother a smirk 

“Wha- Suguha!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short part, I've been stalling posting. There's more written, don't worry. I'll be working on this more.

**Author's Note:**

> Someone really should let Eugeo and Kirito have a happy ending once, shouldn't they?
> 
> I was looking through the end of Volume 14 and it hit me just how similar Eugeo and Kirito's relationship was to Asuna and Yuuki's. Thus this story began.
> 
> Updates generally on Sundays.


End file.
